Dogs. Beautiful creatures they are. Lovely to play around with, infact, they are friends to men. They can be everything a bad friend can't be. People call them domesticated descendants of wolves. But that doesn't make it unreasonable to keep around the house.
Growing up, we lived with dogs. A household with about five families, but what can you say when the landowner calls the shots. You have to keep up with things you don't like yourself. If you don't like what you're see, then get your own house, not so?
Jackie, beautiful German shepherd, lovely, friend of all even to neighboring dogs. I loved Jackie so much. Jackie was a dog that its incessant barking signals 'danger is around the corner'. Children that we were, we would play around Jackie, touch her hairs, watch it get bathed, throw foods to her plate and enjoy the way it wiggles her tails. It was real fun. Jackie was a lovely dog. We would betroth Jackie to one of the street dogs, 'Dollar'.
Jackie was crossed and afterwards gave birth to puppies. Couldn't recall how many they were but for all know, the owner kept just one amongst the rest. It was named 'Blade'.
Not long after Blade and the others were born, Jackie was hit by a moving vehicle in front of our building. Lovely, peacful Jackie died.
It was a cold, bereaved evening in our neighborhood. Jackie, friend of all was no more. Some cried, others came with their condolences as is the case when a human dies. Even the other dogs could be heard expressing their feelings from their owner's houses.
Jackie was buried at the backyard. The pain of losing Jackie struck us all but was nothing compared to what the owner and his family felt. Oh dear! Jackie was never a dog to lose.
But then, there was Blade. Would he be as lovely as the one who weaned it? Could Blade fit in the shoes of Jackie? Time would tell. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months. Blade was all grown and yes, into a good dog. He loved us all. We were free to play around him. But something happened one fateful day that changed who Blade really was.
It was one evening, a news was brought home. The owner of the house, the one whom Blade loves the most, a motorcyclist, was involved in a ghastly accident. So sad, he never made it. Once again, everyone couldn't contain the pain they felt, including Blade. Blade cried the whole night.
From then on, Blade changed. It would bark at any slightest provocation. It wasn't as friendly as it used to be any longer.
It all happened one day. We were playing football inside the compund and Blade was lying down beside me. Prince, the boy I was playing with was winning and obviously i wasn't happy with it, I couldn't take it anymore. I hit the ball so hard that it went past him. Inside me I knew it never really entered the net but damn, I was losing and I decided to celebrate. I didn't hold back. Prince could be heard shouting from his own end "It's never a goal!". His shouting fell on deaf ears, I was still celebrating until I lost my balance and fell on Blade.
Blade didn't hesitate, he bit me under my arm. That day was hell for me, I cried really hard. Thank God Blade was such a healthy dog, I never got any infections, but I sure recieved some injections from the doctor mom took me to. Nevertheless, I could still notice the scar I sustained from the bite down to this day. That was how I developed phobia for dogs.
Blade continued its biting spray till it was agreed that it should be sold. From then on, I hated dogs. I would never even walk inches apart from it. As cute as they might look, as endearing as people might hold them, it can never be me! Since then, I've had several other experiences with dogs but the one with Blade was the one that I will never forget. I learnt that dogs can't be always loyal afterall.
Who knows, maybe one day something might entice me into developing the love yet again, but until then I still don't believe I can.